Ethnic Rights in Poland
"Poland's parliament on November 4, 2004 passed the National and Ethnic Minorities Bill that
explicitly outlines the status of the country's minority peoples, including Lemkos. The bill lists
by name all of the recognized ethnic and national minorities that reside in Poland."
Definitions:
Ethnic - those lacking a state such as Roma, Tatars and Lemkos; and
Nationals - a community that has lived in Poland for at least 100 years and is part of a nation
that has its own state (including Ukrainians, Slovaks, Germans, Jews, Lithuanians and others. "The bill secures the rights of both national and ethnic minorities to: • access the public media; • state support for minority cultures and languages; • education in minority languages; • use the original spelling of personal names; and • to have bilingual place names in municipalities where the minority group is present in significant number." Quote from the New Rusyn Times, Pittsburgh, PA. Nov/Dec. 2004, Vol 11, Number 6